This vintage 1946 Gibson ES-300 is a killer vintage archtop with the looks, sounds and smells that make these old Gibson arch tops some of the most magical guitars around. This 17” wide, full scale cremona burst jazz box is a joy to play. Guitars that are great to play tend to get played a lot, and there is evidence of that with this example.

This guitar has had its share of maintenance and repairs over the years. It has had a refret with medium jumbo frets, a replacement vintage tailpiece, replacement pick guard, an early neck reset, which has been over sprayed upon reinstallation. In the years just after WW2 it was not uncommon for Gibson to mix and match materials based on availability. This guitar has a mahogany neck, though its not uncommon to see examples of this year with a maple neck. The guitar features vintage kluson “no oil port” tuners - which were one of the first iterations of the closed back Klusons, which began to appear in the mid 40s. A couple of these sit slightly askew of the tuner footprint and could be replacements, though they are period correct for this instrument.

There is a long crack along the side of the instrument on the treble side waist. This has been repaired a long time ago and is structurally sound.

Despite these repairs, the important parts of this guitar are all there. The pickup, knobs, binding, cremona sunburst nitro finish are all original. This is a solid, well maintained workhorse. There’s no feeling of frailty to the guitar and its easy to forget this is a legitimate golden age 40s Gibson archtop. There is no perceivable sinking of the top. The binding is in great shape as are the original Brazilian rosewood bridge and fretboard. With a thickness of 20.5mm at the first fret, the neck is thin enough to feel fast and comfortable for most players. The neck is straight with a good low action and a comfortable medium C profile with a reasonably wide nut width of 44.3mm. The cremona burst has aged into a beautiful amber patina. The tone of this guitar is warm and woody with nice P90 clarity. It is strung up with 11-50 flatwounds.

This guitar comes with a sturdy Hiscox hard shell case in near new condition.

This may be the perfect player grade 1940s Gibson jazz box. This is a classy instrument with tons of vintage appeal. A great vintage Gibson at a price you might never see again.

IMPORTANT: This guitar has a fretboard and bridge constructed from Brazilian Rosewood. International shipping will require a CITES approval which we will provide. This can take weeks or months to procure.

______________________________

Brand: Gibson

Model: ES-300

Country: USA

Year: 1946

Serial: N/A

Case: HSC

Body Colour: Cremona Burst

Neck Colour: Burst Early Refinish

Finish Type: Nitro

Body Material: Maple

Neck Material: Mahogany

Fretboard Material: Brazilian Rosewood

Scale Length: 25.5"

Frets: 20

Fretboard Radius: 12”

Action (Low E): 2mm

Neck Profile: Med/Thick C

Nut Width: 44.3mm

12th Fret Width: 54.1mm

1st Fret Depth: 20.5mm

12th Fret Depth: 23.3mm

Pickups: P90

Resistance: 8.85k

Electronics: Volume/Tone

Knobs: Original Clear

Pick Guard: Repro 5 ply Black

Hardware: Nickel

Weight: 2.78kg

Mods/Repairs: Crack repair along waist - treble side, early neck reset and refinish back of neck, refret, reproduction pick guard, strap button at heel

______________________________

Fretboard Jungle is a proud, independent guitar store in Sydney, Australia. Please consider that our shop is charged additional transaction and seller fees on all items sold through Reverb. In-store pricing may vary.